Historical District, Kaas City,
Dromund Kaas (870 ABY)
: :"It's only war crimes if they are people. So far I have yet to see actual people on Dromund Kaas. And General, you mistake our efforts for weakness. We'll see you at the historical district. Wardog out.": :
When our enemies eventually have the power to round up the last of us, I'm not so sure they'll look so kindly on our actions.... Oh, Dia. What the fuck have I done? I'm dragging heroes down to Hell with me now!
'What is this Galaxy coming too, Imperial's demanders of Order inciting riots and Chaos.'
Interrupted from silent thoughts provoked by the private correspondence in his ear-piece, Lord Erskine couldn't help but chuckle, hearing the irony dripping off of Blade's coarse voice as he responded, and despite the circumstances, there was a detectable hint of praise in the way he spoke.
At least this one gets it too.... He actually seems to understand the concept.
The individual standing before him was certainly seen as something quite intriguing to the Stormchaser's estimation, completely unlike any Darksider he had ever encountered before, and probably unlike all the others he would likely encounter in the future, only further-fuelling the Lord-General's curiosity in that moment. Smoking away at a deathstick until he pulled it away from his lips and lazily flicked it off to one side, Ice maintained his part of the mutual staring-contest as he continued,
'Not my clan, but my blood.', recalling the jesting assumption of why he'd come so far to face Lord Erskine in the first place as he stopped himself in his amble. Smirking much like his Imperial enemy was, Blade then calmly retorted,
'This is my blood's curse passed down from my father, all who bare it are my blood.', revealing a candour Lord Erskine hadn't expected of him before.
'Your son declared a blood feud on my Granddaughters clan and by extension her bloodline. Your son was warned our bloodline is old and runs beyond the Howling Crags clan. Our numbers many our branches extend well beyond dathomir. Our lines mix and mingle into he houses of Marzullo, Draclau, Arceneau, and many others. Anaxes, Eshan, Hapes, Zonju five, Seoul Five, Randorn two, Pelgrin, and even Tython among worlds our Bloodline inhabits. He was given his warning and told not to seek the path he chose.'
Michael.... I think I was wrong about you, boy.... I think I understand now.
Pulling his gaze away eventually, Ice would be seen looking down towards his belt, reaching for the hilt of a weapon of which Barran couldn't quite discern the specifics yet, finally introducing himself as he said,
'It's only fair you know your executioner, I'm Blade Ice, Darth Lucid to some and the Rebel Sith to many more.', with a renewed smirk as his icey-blue lightsabre hissed into life before the Woad could guess what sort of sword it was. Fortunately for the Lord-General, it didn't matters whether it was durasteel or beskar, vibrotech-composites or kyber, the ornate work on the basket-hilted claymore had attributes that Lord Erskine was fortunate enough to never have been in a situation that necessitated such a revelation. Never once believing his Vibrosword was old enough to retain the renowned Cortosis Weave, the Stormchaser (despite his nature and epithet alike) always assumed such a boon for non-Force Users could never rest within a sword wrought by Goidels, no matter how famous the smith or technician was known to be.
But Erskine was soon about to test that, and with a faithfulness that would frighten even the most meditative of Jedi entities.
'Just know in a hundred years when the millionth new sith empire rises on this world long after your imperial order has turned to dust, and your family is gone, I will look back on this day Kid!'
'Millionth Sith Empire? Unlikely, especially not if all the war-criminals like me are reducing their symbols to dust as we speak.', the Lord-General retorted, but maintaining an air of punditry as he ambled on. Bowing with sword outstretched low as he halted in his own reply, Lord Erskine then replied,
'But do allow me to indulge in your formal introduction all the same - I am Lord Erskine Barran, Chieftain-Governor of the Goidels, Lord-General of the Imperial Armed-Forces and Sabretooth Legion alike, and the former Lord-Commander of Blue-Heart Brigade and the Galidraani Free-State's land-army.... A pleasure making your acquaintance, Lord Blade.', with a sense of sincerity that Ice would not have been prepared to experience in that moment. After the seven years Lord Erskine had endured as a part of the New Imperial order, the amount of foes willing to face him in combat were beginning to grow thin, depleting with every successful battle or war-campaign he played his part in, so the genuine sincerity would've been easy for Ice to read in the Woad's body-language.
'This curse you speak of, what you think it means for your granddaughter and my son - have you ever given thought as to what you might be up against? As opposed to,"Whom", I mean.... My last-surviving son, contrary to popular-opinion, appears to be something more than a mere Force-Adept Jedi, and word to the wise; Michael is steeped in esotericism now, an' the ones he surrounds himself with are pretty much even worse at the moment, he's even got a lycanthrope in tow now. "The Druid", is preparing every day for Khaostra, and so is everyone around 'im.'
'Honestly, Ice? I genuinely hope your family are ready for the storm that's headed your way.', the Woad continued, slowly reaching into his jacket pocket with his cybernetic arm to pull out his hipflask as his gaze drifted off, with head-shaking apprehensively for his opponent's sake. The only reason Lord Erskine was revealing all this to Darth Lucid was the fact he knew Lord Michael would want Khaostra's family to know, and had revealed as such in the still-scant Datapad messages that filtered through from time to time, a habitual trait of the Stormchaser that had permeated into the Wanderer more intensely than it had with his brother. Guzzling down the last third of the hipflask's contents, the Lord-General's eyes then drifted to the lightsabre again as he drawled,
'Braw glow that, oddly similar to the one my son wields though.... An' for what it's worth, I'm happy at least you understand what I'm trying to achieve here.', slipping boots into attacking poise beneath him an instant later.
'Simple concept, am I-'
Distant coordinated walker-fire would be felt thudding underfoot first, then seen out the corner of Erskine's periphery to the north as a burst of gigantic muzzle-flashes, but when he saw where the shots were landing, the Stormchaser couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably. The Raider-ATs were out to make their presence felt in competition for the accumulation of the largest civilian body-count on Dromund Kaas, they were out to commit casual war-crimes like the Woad was, seemingly out with secondary orders like their enemies. Seeing walkers destroying entire city skyrises filled from ground to top floor with local non-combatants, Barran couldn't help but appreciate their commitment to wiping out a mutual enemy in the process of fighting the Imperium at the same time, though he couldn't help but laugh at the fact they could've asked Erskine to do it for them instead, as for once he might have actually accepted the request under the circumstances.
'Madness, absolute madness.... I LOVE IT!!!'
THE LAST DANCE: BARRAN'S FAREWELL TO THE SITH EMPIRE - PART 9
Historical District, Kaas City,
Dromund Kaas (870 ABY)
'I know they'll be aiming our way soon, but- ya just love t'see it in the rare moments, man.'
Further-proving that the Raider-ATs shots were intending to target the civilian population, more coordinated creeping-barrages rained down on the city blocks far off to the east of the Imperials' positions at the time, letting the ground constantly shake and vibrate beneath the boots of Erskine and Blade without cease until the second creeping-barrage ripped through entire streets and city-blocks with ease. He knew the Maw would be working atop the rubble to make life more difficult for them soon after, but Lord Erskine didn't mind, measures were being put into effect beneath everyone's feet, treads and tracks, and the ground and the sub-levels further beneath. This environment was to become the Woad's playground, becoming the crucible in blood before the fire cleansed it all of the sin everyone was spilling blood on, like it was some strange warfighter's summoning ritual, almost as if the Stormchaser was calling on the very lightning that flashed across the distant and near horizons alike.
: :"Alright, General, we're here.": :
And the boots on the ground, all the boots on the ground, whether they were Ashlan or of the Galactic Alliance, of Imperial, Mandalorian or Mawsworn, all would seemingly act as Barran's witchpriests to summon the storm, or perhaps even summoning the very Crucible of War that Blue-Heart Brigade was known for charging into with infamously-reckless abandon.
'Black Stormtrooper will not be so tough, me think! Crack open like crab!'
'Hold on a minute-', the Lord-General muttered with eyebrow raised and cybernetic arm and hand outstretched in a silent momentary request for a pause to their own proceedings. It was coming from the right of Lord Erskine's periphery, and when his head turned to see who possessed such a loud, deep-booming voice, and as suspected, the individual was a large, muscular Mawsworn warrior with savage intent showing confidently for all to see. But everything then began to descend into complete mayhem around them, with the Sabretooth-troopers pushing hard infantry-oblique on the other side of the road, spilling out leftwards across the south-facing Mawites line, the very warriors who accompanied the fur-covered barbarian standing to Barran's right. The riot was well and truly underway by then, spilling out on all sides as the 313th and Elite-trooper alike left nothing to chance, leaving the Lord-General alone to duel with his own opponent in peace - a small blessing, fewer distracting words of encouragement to contend with.
'You talk too much.'
Exactly, kid.... Keep it up, an' focus on rippin' that dafty's heid aff an'aw.
With Mandalorians observing by then, and with much and more owed to the Lord-General's joy in doing so, the Woad smirked again, locking stares with Lucid as his fighting poise was resumed underfoot. Lord Erskine's stance would drop to lower his centre of gravity slightly, and just as Annor E-059 was making her first heavy hits against the ox-man, the Stormchaser chuckled at the sheer madness of it all before concluding,
'Shall we? Everybody else is now so- alright.... BEGIN!!!!', as his opponent impatiently nodded assent. Then, as soon as the Lord-General's commencement had been given, both contrasting embodiments of warfighting-excellence sprang forth, with weapons held one-handed, set in low-guard positions with the intent to swipe upwards with their first strikes. Both were feinting for directional switches mid-swing, knowing not of how and where either weapon would slash in the process until the instant they realised they were slashing out in similarly-opposite directions, misses on both counts.
'Being honest? I have no idea if this has a Cortosis Weave or not, Ice.... But I have faith that it does, an' my faith won't fail me tonight! Not here! Not on the one Sith planet I hate the most!'
Trusting in an old sword with a thistle-shaped pommel, Barran roared,
'SINN'SEARAAANN!!!!', with all the might his aging lungs could give him, holding his guard hip-high with blade-tip pointing directly at Darth Lucid's face - then sprinting towards his opponent with a quickness he'd been improving over the course of that year with Rosk'Aiar. In an almost-instantaneous response, Blade would keep a low guard as he approached at walking pace, perceived as attempting to time his strike perfectly, though Lord Erskine had no idea what feint or fake his opponent had in mind for him. Fortunately for both fighters, Blade would surreptitiously bring his lightsabre overhead and strike downwards towards Erskine's head as the Woad himself slashed upwards towards it, this was the moment of truth that Barran was throwing all his confidence and belief into - this was instant where his fate would be offered to the Heavens.
And the Heavens would decide to smile on the Stormchaser, letting the Cortosis Weave activate on contact as both kyber and composite audibly, and visibly bounced off each other and sent the tips of both weapons careening off in different directions. The question had been answered, but did it change anything about either duellists need for a good fight? Not remotely, not while the Blood-Feud was gaining fresh momentum.